


Gratitude

by ungracefulfalling



Series: May 27th-29th Fic Party [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: also fight me cas would love cows, blame olivia for this crack, everybody lives au, i have 0 idea what this is, im sorry im so confused by this just as much as you are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 14:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4023328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ungracefulfalling/pseuds/ungracefulfalling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where everyone gets a ridiculous animal as a pet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gratitude

Castiel loved his angelic brothers and sisters. 

 

They had been there for him since he was young. They had raised him to be the perfect warrior and had helped him train to become the strongest and most hard-willed angel that he could be.

 

And while they taught him about all of these very important things, they also taught him about tradition.

 

Some angelic traditions seemed pointless and downright confusing, while others Cas thought had serious legitimacy and helpfulness.

 

Yes, Castiel loved his angelic brothers and sisters, but never enough to follow through with the angelic tradition of Gratitude that he was going to put into play for his human family.

 

***

 

Dean was exhausted. The last hunt had put quite a large amount of stress on his bones and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a good three days. Sam had waved Dean off when he had tried to convince his younger brother to get some sleep as well, in favor of doing more research on the thing they had just ganked. Dean was too tired to aruge, so he bid his brother goodnight and trotted down the corridor to his bedroom.

 

Kicking off his boots, Dean was ready to get horizontal, flipping the blankets off of his bed, ready to crawl under when he saw something move. Jumping back from the bed, Dean put his hands out protectively in front of him, incase the thing in his bed was a poisonous creature or monster of some sort. Reaching behind him, his hand made contact with the boot that he had kicked off and he wrapped his hand around the ankle tightly, ready to swing at anything that came near him. 

 

There was more movement under the blanket and Dean stood up again, assuming the position, but when he threw off the covers a little bit more, he did not see any kind of bug or monster, but a small creature with big black eyes and bat-like ears.

 

"Can somebody tell me why the  _hell_ there's a rat thing in my bed!" Dean yelled, dropping the boot he was holding, realizing that although the thing was a bit creepy, it was way too cute to smush like a bug.

 

"It's called a Sugar Glider, Dean," Cas' gravelly voice came from behind the taller man. Dean whipped around to see Cas in lounge pants and one of his old t-shirts; way more casually dressed than Dean had ever seen him before. He was standing in the doorway with a smile on his face, staring at the creature in Dean's bed with a fond look in his eyes. One of his hands was outside the doorway, which obstructed Dean's line of view.

 

"That's  _fantastic_ , Cas," Dean said sarcastically. "But why is it lying in my bed and what actually is it?"

 

"Technically it's a marsupial," Cas said. "In the same family as the kangaroo. But it's much smaller and is nocturnal. It is your Gratitude gift from me."

 

Dean wasn't sure what he was supposed to address first. The fact that he had a mini kangaroo-rat thing still staring up at him from his sheets? The fact that this mini kangaroo-rat thing was nocturnal when he needed his damn for hours? Whatever the hell a Gratitude gift was? But he opted for something else entirely.

 

"Cas, why is your hand outside the doorway?" he asked. "What are you holding?"

 

Cas smiled and pulled his hand inside the doorway where it was holding a navy blue leash. Before Dean's eyes could even process, there was a cow standing in the middle of his room.

 

***

 

"Is anyone going to explain what's going on because I am  _so_ lost," Dean groaned, looking from the cow standing on his rug to Cas' smiling face.

 

Charlie walked in the doorway after the cow, a weird-looking jumbo cat trailing behind her, looking equally as confused as Dean, but much more delighted than frustrated. She ran a hand through the cat's fur as she sat down on the floor next to Dean's bed, and the weird looking cat stood beside her. The thing had to be at least 2 feet tall and looked so much like a leopard Dean was on the verge of  _completely_ losing his shit.

 

Kevin walked in next and although there were dark circles under his eyes and he didn't look happy in the slightest to see a gigantic cow in the middle of Dean's bedroom, he held a tiny monkey-looking thing in his hands and looked pretty excited to have it climbing from his hands, around his neck, to sit on one of his shoulders. The animal played with one of Kevin's ears as he sat down next to Charlie and her cat stared at the creature on Kevin's shoulder.

 

Sam came in last holding, what Dean had to admit was, the cutest thing he had ever seen. The dog-like animal was curled up in Sam's gigantic arms like a sleeping puppy and Sam looked so ecstatic, Dean didn't even know what he was supposed to say. Sam stood next to the cow hesitantly, staring at it as if he were afraid it would bite him, and the room went eerily quiet save for the occaisonal sound coming from one of the animals.

 

"Cas, what is all this?" Dean questioned.

 

"These are my Gratitude gifts to my family," Cas smiled, proudly. "It's an angelic tradition that is more commonly done among angels, however I suppose it can be applied to any family dynamic."

 

"Listen, buddy, as much as it's great that you're implementing your traditions and all...what is all of this? What's the point of Gratitude gifts and what kind of animals are we all holding because I'm still completely confused as to what's going on."

 

Cas smiled. "Dean the creature in your bed is a Sugar Glider, as I have already told you. Sam is holding a Fennec Fox, which is technically a non-domesticated canine, but it has a temperment that is more similar to a cat than it is to a dog. Charlie is sitting next to a Serval, which is one of the fastest cats on Earth, just below the Cheetah. The creature playing with Kevin's ear is a Squirrel Monkey. And this is my cow, Charles. I admire cows because of their complacent, peaceful nature, much like bees. The tradition of Gratitude is a tradition in which you gift an exotic animal to everyone you are grateful for. I guess it could be compared to an American Thanksgiving, if you wanted more of an explanation."

 

Dean didn't know why the current situation was so funny to him, but before he could help it, he was laughing. Doubled over, clutching his stomach and trying to keep tears from rolling down his cheeks. Placing a hand on Cas' shoulder and looking his cow straight in the eyes.

 

"Thank you, Cas. For the Gratitude gift."

 

Cas beamed and Sam, Charlie, and Kevin echoed back Dean's "thank you," making eye contact with their animals and petting their heads.

 

Dean turned again to look at the little creature trying to burrow itself back into his blanket, and Dean almost yelped when he picked up the marsupial, just to have it launch itself out of Dean's hands and soar around the room.

 

As his family and their new animals exited out of Dean's room, he watched the Sugar Glider fly around the room in circles, opening out its wings to the side and leaping. It seemed free and if Dean didn't know any better, he would've thought there was a smile on the creature's face.

 

Hoping the flying would keep the thing occupied, Dean slunk into bed finally and pulled up the covers, looking up at the animal still flying around the room.

 

Before he fell asleep, he named it "Cas."

**Author's Note:**

> I completely made up the angelic tradition/ritual of Gratitude for the sake of this crack fic. 
> 
> You're welcome.


End file.
